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Table of Contents
Title: The Effect of Oil on Aquatic Plants
Problem Scenario:
Boat engines are made to give a large amount of power in a small package. As a result, a certain amount of the fuel that enters into a motor is discharged (unburned), and ends up in the water. Two stroke engines, which make up a huge part of the motors used on all types of watercraft, have been unhelpful. Estimates change as to how much fuel passes into the water (25-30% is an estimated average) and depends on factors such as engine speed, tuning, oil mix, and horsepower. Other concerns include lowered oxygen levels due to carbon monoxide, and spills or leaks connected to the two stroke engines and storage of gasoline near water-bodies.Broad Question:
Will oil effect the growth of a water plant?Specific Question:
Does car oil effect the growth of aquatic plants?Hypothesis:
The growth of the plant with the car oil will be smaller than the plant without the car oil.Graph of Hypothesis
Variables
Independent Variable:
Oil and Not OilDependent Variable:
Growth of an Aquatic PlantVariables That Need To Be Controlled:
Amount of sun, amount of water, amount of oil (for oil plant), amount of dirt.Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation
General Plan
Potential Problems And Solutions
A potential problem for my project could be that both my sets of plants (oil and not oil) could have died. Or that both plants didn't grow in the amount of time I had to grow my plant.Safety Or Environmental Concerns
An environmental concern for my project is to dispose of the oil properly. To dispose of the oil you must go to the dump and pour the used oil in the used oil bin.Experimental Design
Controlled, manipulated experimentNumber Of Trials:
I ran three different trials.
Number Of Subjects In Each trial:
I had one plant to each cup.
When data will be collected:
The data will be collected every two days that the experiment is set up.
Number of Observations:
I had four observations.
Where will data be collected?:
The data will be recorded in my journal and in a data table.
Resources and Budget Table
I got 6 plastic clear cup from Walmart = $5.30I got six aquatic plants from the pet store = $3.50
Plant light = Free (from my house)
Data Table
Background Research
Science Fair Background ResearchOil spills are a big problem right now. They affect the life of the aquatic environment, and are hard to clean up. Yet, what does oil actually do to the environment,how does oil damage the aquatic environment? Well that is the very reason I did my project, so I could answer those exact questions. But of course in order to have a good project, you must understand the background information of your project. Well here is mine.
There are different types of oils and each type of oils have different effect on different aquatic plants. Oils like gasoline are light oils which float on top of the water effecting the aquatic plants that live on top of the water. Yet can cause long term damage. While the more crude oils, that are very heavy can fall deeper into the water, making it harder to clean up and can kill aquatic plants deep under the surface of the water. There are four different categories oils fall under: Very light oils or light distillates, light oils or medium distillates, medium oils (most crude oils fall under this category), and heavy fuel oils. For very light oils such as gasoline (car oil) clean up is impossible if spilled into water. Though light oils or medium distillates, clean up if spilled into water is effective, Medium oils if spilled into water clean up is effective if done quickly. As for heavy fuel oils clean up if spilled into water is extremely difficult.
Oil spills do not only affect the growth of Aquatic plants but oil spills also does further damage by causing algae formation. Algae, an already fast forming plant and the widespread algae population makes it hard for other aquatic plants to grow. Also chemicals used to take care of oils spills do even more damage to aquatic life.
Unprocessed oils that come out of the ground is called crude oils, crude oils are fossil fuels. Crude oils were made naturally, from decaying plants and ancient animals from millions of years ago. Crude oils can differ from watery to almost solid, from almost clear to pitch black. The elements that make up crude oils consist of: 84% carbon,14% hydrogen, 1 to 3% sulfur as hydrogen sulfide, sulfides, disulfides, elemental sulfur, less than 1% nitrogen, less than 1% oxygen found in organic compounds such as carbon dioxide, phenols, ketones, carboxylic acids, less than 1% metals (nickel, iron, vanadium, copper, arsenic) and less than 1% salt (sodium chloride, magnesium chloride, calcium chloride). Why exactly is all of these elements so deadly to the environment when mixed together? Because together they make up a thick gooey substance that messes with the environment.
The environment is a very important part of life here on Earth. If there is a way to better understand the effects of oil or other bad substances, and to better understand what the oil does takes a even closer to a cleaner environment. Every bit of information helps, and the more we understand the better we can prepare and take care of the problem.
Resources:
"Thomko Petro Chemical Blog." Types Of Oil. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. <__http://thomko.squarespace.com/types-of-oil/>._
Writer, Contributing. "How Does Oil Affect the Growth of an Aquatic Plant?" EHow. Demand Media, 24 Mar. 2010. Web. 06 Apr. 2012. <__http://www.ehow.com/about_6127348_oil-affect-growth-aquatic-plant_.html>.__
Heron, S.F. "How Does an Oil Spill Affect The Environment?" EHow. Demand Media, 10 June 2010. Web. 12 Apr. 2012. <__http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4616883_oil-spill-affect-environment.html>.__
Detailed Procedure
First I started off with six cups of sand and I spread them out over and 24 inch piece of cardboard and set them under a plant light. Every four days I added a cup of water to each cup and measured each plant every two days. Each cup had one plant in it, and every four days I added a teaspoon of oil to the oil cups.The way I measured the plants height is I would get down to eye level and stick my ruler in the cup and with the centimeter side I would see where the plant reached to.Photo List
Results
All Raw Data
Graphs
Photos
Data Analysis
The plant without the oil grew at a faster pace than the plant with oil. After about 3/25 the plant with oil started to die and shriveled up a little and lost some of its height. The plant without oil grew at a almost steady pace and seemed very healthy.Conclusion
My hypotheses was right because I predicted that the plant with oil would grow at a slower pace and not be as healthy as the other, and that exact pattern showed up in my data. Oil does effect the growth of an aquatic plant.Discussion
In the 13 times I collected data, there were a few trends and patterns that occur. For one, the first trend was that the plant with the oil grew at a slower pace than the plant without the oil. A pattern was that almost every two days the plant grew a soil .2 centimeter.When doing my experiment, I wish I could have had more time to grow my plants and collect more data. The data I collected was enough to show a connection between oil and aqutic plants.Benefit to Community and/or Science
A little information regarding an important problem in the ocean environment.Abstract
Boat engines are made to give a large amount of power in a small package. As a result, a certain amount of the fuel that enters into a motor is discharged (unburned), and ends up in the water. Two stroke engines, which make up a huge part of the motors used on all types of watercraft, have been unhelpful. Estimates change as to how much fuel passes into the water (25-30% is an estimated average) and depends on factors such as engine speed, tuning, oil mix, and horsepower. Other concerns include lowered oxygen levels due to carbon monoxide, and spills or leaks connected to the two stroke engines and storage of gasoline near water-bodies. The affect oil has on the aqutic environment is negitive an oil damages the growth of plants and over time kills them.